Matthew 18:10: “Take heed that ye despise not one of these little ones; for I say unto you, That in heaven their angels do always behold the face of my Father which is in heaven.”

This is an odd little thing that doesn’t get talked about very often. It would appear that children have angels that are connected to them in some way. Now, these don’t seem to be guardian angels, exactly, in the sense of an angel on Earth that takes care of them. After all, the passage says “in heaven their angels…”, which implies the angels are in Heaven, beholding the face of God. If they’re in Heaven then they’re not on Earth (unless they shuttle back and forth between the two, which is a possibility.)

This raises all sorts of questions. Do all children who believe in Christ have angels of their own, which seems to be the case? At what age do these angels move on to other children? What do these angels do, besides remaining in Heaven and looking at God? Do they have some function?

I suppose this is one of those things that we simply can’t know. But the point is clear: do not despise children that believe in Jesus. Respect them, and show them love and guidance.

Matthew 18:8: “Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire.”

These verses seem to give people a lot of trouble, but they really aren’t that difficult. All Jesus is saying is that it is better to lose something very dear to you, and flee from your sins and be saved, than to hold on to your sins and be damned forever.

Now, can a Christian sin and then be cast into Hell? Absolutely not – so Jesus is not talking about that. (Should Christians flee from sin? Of course – but that is not the point of this passage.) The person in view here is someone who is lost, but something is holding him back from being saved. It would be far better for them to lose whatever is holding them back – no matter how precious it is – than to keep it and lose everything. That is the point.

The price of salvation may be high – in fact, it may cost you your very life – but it is far better to be saved and inherit eternal life, than to walk away from salvation and wind up condemned to the Lake of Fire. That is the choice, and there is no neutral option.

Matthew 18:6: “But whoso shall offend one of these little ones which believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and that he were drowned in the depth of the sea.”

Notice the phrase “which believe in me”. Children certainly can believe in God (which is a topic for another time). There are those who do and there are those who do not. Notice what tremendous offense the Lord takes at those who “offend” or abuse these little children: Jesus says that it would be better to be murdered than to do that! As He said:

Matthew 18:7: “Woe unto the world because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!”

In another place the verse continues: “It would be better if he had not been born.” Why? Because not being born is far better than suffering the eternal fires of Hell. Do not mess with children: that will earn you the wrath of God – and God means business. No one will get away with it.

Matthew 18:1: “At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

Many people today would not dare to ask a question like that. They are convinced that there is no such thing as ‘least’ or ‘greatest’ when it comes to Heaven. As they say, “there are no big I’s or little U’s”. What this ends up meaning is “Hey, I can do whatever I want because in Heaven it won’t matter. So I’ll just live it up now. I’m saved and going to Heaven, so it’s not like it matters.” That is why people hate the idea of Heavenly rewards – it means that the way we live our life really does matter. People would much rather believe that it didn’t, so they could live as they please.

Notice that Jesus does not say “What are you talking about? No one in Heaven is any greater than anyone else. You are greatly mistaken.” Instead He says this:

Matthew 18:3: “And said, Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.
4 Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

Who is the greatest in the kingdom of Heaven? The humble ones – the ones who make much of God and little of themselves. The ones who accept Jesus and humbly obey Him. Those are the great ones.

In another place Jesus expands on this idea, saying that those who obey God and teach others to do the same are great, while those who disobey God and teach others to do the same are the least. The basic idea is the same: it all centers around obeying God, and making much of Him and little of ourselves.

Matthew 17:27: “Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.”

I think it’s impossible to look at the Bible and say “See, the Bible says that Christians don’t have to pay taxes.” If there is anyone who could have made the claim that he did not have to pay taxes I think that person would be Jesus. After all, He is God Himself, King of Kings and Lord of Lords! But yet here we see Him offering tribute money to Rome.

I think Jesus sets a pretty clear example. He could have argued that He was greater than Rome, or that the tax did not apply to God, or any number of things, but He chose not to. Instead He paid it – and had Peter do the same. If Jesus had to pay taxes then we do as well. After all, we are certainly not greater than Jesus!

Matthew 17:21: “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.”

This is a very interesting verse that really tends to be ignored. It would appear that there are some kinds of evil that can only be cast out by prayer and fasting; nothing else can do it. In other words, prayer + fasting = freedom.

Sadly, this is rarely preached on. What kinds of things require prayer and fasting? How does fasting work? What concepts are in play here? Fasting really seems to be a lost discipline that is poorly understood in our time. Christ, however, seemed to think that it was very important. After all, there are clearly some kinds of evil that cannot be defeated any other way.

Matthew 17:11: “And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things.”

Notice the word “shall”, which indicates that Elijah will one day return. At some point in the future (probably after the Rapture) Elijah will come back to Earth and minister to Israel. This is part of the end-times events, and is almost certainly one that the Church will not be around to see.

Matthew 17:12: “But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them.
13 Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist.”

Here Christ switches gears, and goes from talking about Elijah (who is still yet to come) to talking about John the Baptist. Now, John the Baptist was asked if he was Elijah, and he said no. So what’s going on?

Well, this is where things get tricky. You see, when Jesus came to Israel He gave them a choice: they could accept Him or reject Him. If they accepted Him, He would still have had to die – but after His resurrection He would have ushered in His millennial kingdom. The Church Age would never have happened at all, and all of history would have been completely different. If the Jews had accepted Him, Elijah would have been sent instead of John the Baptist.

But as we know, Israel rejected Christ. God knew that would happen, and so Elijah was not sent and John the Baptist was. When Christ died and rose again He went back to Heaven, and the Church Age was born. Elijah’s actual return was delayed, as was the coming of the kingdom.

If all that seems difficult to understand, think of it this way: Jesus is clear that Elijah (who the disciples just met in person) would return one day to Earth to minister to Israel. However, in the present day, John the Baptist was fulfilling that same role – and had been rejected by the Jews.

Matthew 17:1: “And after six days Jesus taketh Peter, James, and John his brother, and bringeth them up into an high mountain apart,”

This is the Transfiguration. Notice that Jesus brought Peter, James, and John, and no one else. This apparently represented the “inner circle” of disciples. John, of course, was the one who later wrote the Book of Revelation. This episode may be what Christ was referring to in the previous chapter, when He said that there were some that would not taste death until they saw the kingdom of God come with power.

Also, notice this happened after Peter told Jesus that He was the Son of God – not before. Peter believed and was then shown this transfiguration. Belief had to come first.

Matthew 17:3: “And, behold, there appeared unto them Moses and Elias talking with him.”

Here we have something astonishing: a New Testament appearance of Moses and Elijah! They don’t seem to have been introduced, and yet everyone knew who they were. This reminds me of the rich man and Lazarus; after they died they seemed to know everyone, and everyone seemed to know them. It’s as if in the next life everyone knows each other. This may be one of the characteristics of the way things will be – and that might explain what Paul meant by “for now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face; now we know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known”. It is something to think about.

In the future, our relationships with people – and our knowledge of each other – may be much closer than it is today, and the distance between people may be much smaller.

Matthew 17:4: “Then answered Peter, and said unto Jesus, Lord, it is good for us to be here: if thou wilt, let us make here three tabernacles; one for thee, and one for Moses, and one for Elias.”

Peter has a habit of saying things before he’s thought it through. Another example of this is the time when Jesus was walking on water, and Peter said “If it’s you then tell me to come out with you.” That was a terrible idea – suppose that it wasn’t Jesus at all, but something evil. By the time you got out of the boat and drown it would have been too late. If you wanted proof that it was Jesus that seemed like a poor way to go about it.

Once again we see the honesty of the gospels. They recorded it just like it happened.

Matthew 17:5: “While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.”

This is the second time this happened; the first was at Christ’s baptism. As you can see, it clearly had a powerful impact:

Matthew 17:6: “And when the disciples heard it, they fell on their face, and were sore afraid.”

No one who hears the Father speak is unaffected: His presence fills men with utter terror. The Israelites at Mount Horeb reacted the same way, as did Isaiah when he saw God in Heaven. God is so awesome, so holy, and so tremendous, that no one can boast in His presence. There is just something about Him.

Today we are going to bring our study of the book of Malachi to a conclusion:

Malachi 4 (PDF file; 6 pages)

Matthew 16:28: “Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom.”

There are two possible explanations for this. One is that after Jesus said this, a few of the disciples (Peter, James, and John, I think) saw Jesus transfigured. That could be what this refers to. The other is that much later in life, John was given the Revelation of Jesus Christ, where John did see the Tribulation, the Second Coming, and what happened next. So that could be what He was talking about as well.

Personally, I think this is a reference to the Transfiguration. Every time this statement is recorded in the gospels, the very next thing that happens is the Transfiguration. I don’t think that is an accident.

I don’t believe this statement means that one of the disciples is still alive somewhere and is going to remain alive until Jesus returns. Notice how Jesus said that this disciple would not die until he saw Jesus coming in His kingdom. This means that after he saw this, he would die. However, when Jesus returns for His Church He will raise the dead and take them to Heaven – which means at that point they won’t be dying any more! So this has to be referring to something else.

Matthew 16:24: “Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.
25 For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: and whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it.”

“Take up his cross” was not a metaphor. Jesus actually took up a real cross and died a slow death of torture on it – and Peter did the same. What Jesus was saying here was “If you want to be my disciple, you need to prepare to be brutally murdered in horrible, painful ways, because that is what it costs.” Following Jesus is a very costly thing to do.

The point in verse 25 is clear. Those who rejected Jesus may have spared themselves martyrdom, but they did so at the cost of their eternal soul. By saving their lives they lost eternity. However, those who accepted Jesus lost their lives (often in horrifying ways), but they saved their soul and were given eternal life. There is nothing metaphorical about it: if you abandon Jesus to save your life you will be damned forever, and if you cling to Jesus at the cost of your life you will find everlasting life. That is the choice.

Today we are going to study the third chapter of the book of Malachi:

Malachi 3 (PDF file; 14 pages)

Matthew 16:23: “But he turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men.”

Clear, direct, and to the point. If you’ll notice, Jesus was a lot less concerned about being “nice” and inoffensive than modern Christians are. We go out of our way to not hurt anyone’s feelings. Jesus did not, as you can see. Instead He said precisely what needed to be said, and was not the least bit hesitant or apologetic about it. He got right to the heart of the matter.

Matthew 16:21: “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.
22 Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.”

Notice (besides the brutal honesty of this passage) that the disciples had no idea what the gospel was. They didn’t understand the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ, or how the Messiah had to die to atone for the sins of man. What we today call the gospel was completely lost on them.

People like to say that Old Testament believers were saved the same way that New Testament believers are, but that’s not really the case. Yes, it’s true that salvation comes by faith, and that has not changed. Just as Abraham believed God and it was credited to Him for righteousness, so we believe God and receive righteousness as well. Abraham was saved by grace through faith, and so are we. However, what we believe today is very different from what Abraham believed, and that is a point that most people seem to miss.

No one in the Old Testament believed in the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. They didn’t know anything about any of that, because God hadn’t revealed it yet – at least not until the time of Isaiah, and even then there was tremendous confusion about what the prophecies meant. Those who lived before the time of Isaiah knew almost nothing about what the Messiah would do – they only knew that He would come and save them. Some people thought there would actually be two Messiahs: one who would suffer and die, and another one who would reign. No one could imagine how one person could possibly do both.

Anyway, my point is that Matthew makes it very clear that before Jesus died, people had no real knowledge of the gospel. Even the disciples didn’t understand it.

Today we are continuing our study of the book of Malachi by examining chapter 2:

Malachi 2 (PDF file; 16 pages)